The Debts Of My Mind

I am a twenty-two year old American and I am in debt up to my eyeballs.

Like two thirds of America the thought of getting vast amounts of money now was too tempting for me. I was behind in medical bills and rent, I just needed a little breathing room. A BREAK FOR ONCE! So I applied for a credit card from my bank and to MY surprise was approved. All was to be well I could get caught up with my bills and save. A happy ending!

...Then reality happen. For two months I was feeling good and living comfortably for change. Then I started to notice my interest and monthly payments started to go up. Okay no big deal I'll just not use it and pay twice my payment to make a dent and I did. But as many would probably say SHIT will hit you in right in the face while you are trying to clean up the toilet.

I still see a doctor on a regular basis, still use my phone, still pay my unused gym membership that I can't get out of and I still paying the health insurance that won't help with my doctor bills. On top of that I am trying to paying twice the regular payment on my card.

Now the granddaddy of all worst possible things has happens I got not one but two speeding tickets back to back in a speed trap. This is the first time in my life where I can not honestly pay all my bills and usually on here I have a point but today I just needed to vent.

I thank you for listening.

Or I guess reading.

Don't get a credit card.

The average purchase with a card is 112% more than what it would be in cash.

Comic-Con...

CHECK!

I got to go and do something off my bucket list and that fabolus thing was the San Diego Comic Con. It was truly amazing, better than I could imagine. I got to meet a punch of great people, learn more about my craft, and get lots of free shit in the process!

My trip did not start out well as I had an unexpected stay in lovely Denver for a night. With only four hours of sleep I made my way to California. I lived in San Diego for small portion of my life. It's the only other residence that I have had besides the house I grew up in. So I have a special place in that thing that I have that closely resembles a heart. I got to eat at all my favorite Cali eateries such as: Jack in the Box , Tom's #23 , and In & Out.

My mother and I along with a selected few of others got to attend the coveted "Preview Night". I was not prepared for the shear amount of free comics I was about to receive. We went to the DC booth and we notice people making lines around the table and we decided we better hop in. We were glad we did as I received probably 20 issues of free comics along with posters, buttons , and something I had been reluctant to spend five dollars on, The Black Lantern Ring!

Also something very special happen to me on preview night, I got to meet the person who got to start reading comics again and inspired me to start writing comics, ROBERT KIRKMAN!!!

I also got meet comic greats the likes of John Layman, Rob Guillory, Nick Spencer and Cliff Rathburn. Cliff who I also got a cool Walking Dead print and an original piece of artwork.

The next four days were amazing filled with informative panels, writing seminars and Hollywood celebrities. I also got complete some collections of comics and obtained some rare ones.

The best part I think about the whole trip was sharing it with my Mother and by the end I think I even turned her into a comic book fan as she was reading Chew and the exclusive advance issue of Morning Glories which we were only of a selective 100 in the world to get.

Now I am stuck counting down the days until next year, which hopefully I will display my first comic!

I'm a Mac and You're a PC!

We get it by now everyone loves their respected brand but what I want to tackle today is the battle between the fans of these computer/operating systems. Why is there so much hatred towards Mac users and why do Mac users act like they are so above everyone else.

As a long time Microsoft fanboy I used to goof on Macheads and how they must love the smell of their own feces because it must better than a PC user's excrement. Then when I was recording music and my friend invited me over to use his Macbook to help record. To say the least I was blown away at the easy to use programs on it. Within the next couple of weeks I bought a Mac and I have been in love ever since.

Like most new Mac users I was eager to share this new godlike technology with the rest of the known universe. Quickly converting some of my friends and family to the light side of the computer world. I think many people mistake this for a kind of pompousness by Macheads and some of them it is probably the case. This is no need for the PCs to get upset and attack people for there love of a good product. The guy in the '92 Accord doesn't honk at a stoplight at a guy in a brand new BMW. Not all luxury car owners are arrogant pricks but some of them are thats life. Don't hate Apple and its products because some posh users hold their nose up at the coffee shop when you pull out your HP laptop while they are typing away, with ease, on their Macbook Pro.

And don't worry the PC isn't the odd man out so to all the users out their who feel like they are surrounded by showy fancy Macheads remember there is power in numbers as there are still 80 PC users to every Machead.

I just ain't one of them.

Til Next time from Comic-Con !

The Bucket List

Lately I have been trying to accomplish things that I have been trying to do for years like visiting new places, revisiting old ones and learning things that I have always dreamed of. I decided to make a bucket list on here to help me meet my goals. So at least once a week I will try to complete a goal on my bucket list. I don't know if it will happen once a week but I will try. Well here it is. I will not go on to explain each one, I will explain the goal in detail when I do it.

The Bucket List :

(in no particular order)

1. Get a job I love.

2. Visit Japan.

3. Learn a foreign language.

4. Visit Europe.

5. Go to Comic-Con

6. Go to E3.

7. Have a ski trip.

8. Play a live band gig.

9. Finish learning the piano.

10. Meet one of my heros

11. Get married and have a kick ass wedding.

12. Meet a president.

13. Do something meaningful for someone.

14. Make a movie.

15. Visit New York.

16. Go to Glastonbury.

17. Go to Bonaroo.

18. See my top 5 favorite bands in concert.

19. Play Laser tag again.

20. Revisit museums and theme parks I went to as a kid.

21. Learn how to draw well.

22. Write a novel.

23. Dress up at a anime convention.

24. Play magic the gathering weekly at a comic book shop.

25. Play a campaign of D&D.

26. Develop my own photos.

27. Play a game of poker in Las Vegas.

28. Go on a stargazing trip in Death Valley.

29. Have a camping weekend at a lake with friends.

30. Go floating overnight on a river.

31. Craft Something

32. Hike across the seasons

33. Go paint balling.

34. Visit Historical Sites.

35. Own a dream car.

36. Have a perfect date.

37. Have a prom for a birthday party.

38. Paint.

39. Take a Cooking Class.

40. Go into space.

41. Race a car.

42. Ride a loop roller coaster.

43. Break a world record.

44. L.A.R.P.

45. Ride with the police.

46. Have my dream house.

47. Go horseback riding.

48. Be in a history reenactment.

49. Earn an award.

50. Enjoy it all with the people I love.

Now I don't know if I'll be able to do one a week but I sure will try. So stay tuned every Saturday I should post one. I know what you may be thinking, you're only 22 why do you need a bucket list? Well we are all not promised tomorrow and I want to make sure I make the most out of life. There are probably more that I will even add later but I think this will get me started. Plus if you read any self help book it will tell you that the first step in making your goals is to write it down. Maybe we all could use a little bucket list to keep us focus on what's important and that's not the debt we owe or the problems that we face but instead it's our happiness.

Until Next Time

Vampires Vampires Vampires!

They SUCK!!

Blood that is. Lame jokes aside I have always been fascinated with the myth of the Vampire. Immortality through brutality. Did you know at one point in history is was almost common practice to stake the hearts of the recently dead for fear that they would come back as a vampire? This nighttime fear has grown into Hollywood and book gold. Now that you can't turn your head without seeing something associated with vampires I figure I talk about this latest fad and my two gloves of garlic on the issue.

So which are you team Jacob or team Edward? I like most book lovers fell in love with the series but then came the movies. Those god dam movies! They are horrible and don't get me wrong I am a huge Robert Pattinson fan. I loved How to Be and Goblet of Fire. It's not anyone associated with the movies fault except the executives who green lit the picture. These movies are horrible for one reason and one reason only and that is, THIS BOOK DOES NOT TRANSLATE AS A MOTION PICTURE! I know plenty of potential readers who were turned off because of the movies. I myself can't make it through the fourth book because now I keep picturing everything in the movie form.

TrueBlood is how you make that translation as a book but then again Alan Ball is a genius. I think thats all that really needs to be said. I am a huge fan and I love the fact that it's more correct towards the vampire myth and their legendary weaknesses.

This fad is that it always starts with books. Twilight, Suki Stackhouse novels and Anne Rice's books. The vampire fad seems to fade in and out and it all starts with the books. I wasn't around for the Anne Rice explosion but in the latest wake the one thing I can't stand is the saturation of the literary market with all these "Tween" vampire novels which just sell on the sexual tension that these young girls crave i.e. The Jonas Brothers. I love reading vampire titles but if there is some decent title I can't find underneath all these titles that publishers are throwing money at.

And if the publishers are reading this throw me an advance. I will write you a worthy vampire title maybe or maybe I'll just hype up the sex and make it a bestseller.

Until Next Time

Addicted to Pixels

Video games.

Unlike the internet, I never knew a time without. Some of my earliest memories were that with the 8-bit Nintendo on Zelda. I was fortuned enough to have a grandfather who love the new wave of technology that was coming out. All of the accessories the Nintendo had he got us.

The coolest thing about my grandfather was that he was a Zelda freak. He saved all the Nintendo Power magazines with the Zelda maps in it. I never been so afraid than to accidently save over my granddad's game. He always made it further than us but me and brothers still had a blast taking on Gannon.

As I grew up so did the video games I played. My first system that was just mine was the Sega Genesis. Sonic the Hedgehog helped me navigate my way through the troubled seas of elementary school life. It was followed by the 64 which blew my mind with two games that I completely indulge in and suck me in. Not since Zelda did I think that I would be able to assume the role of a character in a video game. These two games were Starfox and Golden Eye.

Then came the almighty Playstation and with it two of the best games ever Final Fantasy XII and Resident Evil. I never thought anything but a scary movie could invoke such terror in me but I was mistaked as me and my brother's friends sat in their basement in front of a big screen in the dark pissing our pants from the zombies attacking our antagonist in the game.

Playstation 2 was my second console that I owned and it was a good one. I bought it when Grand Theft Auto III came out and I never thought anyone could create such a vivid and unique feeling world as much as that did. One of the best experiences that I have still today is picking up the newest GTA game and playing the first mission. It's the feeling of being sunk into a brand new world with no knowledge of what's up the street or across the bridge and that what is so fun about it is finding out what's there.

Xbox brought me online multiplayer and instead of going out and partying me and my friends stayed in most the time and smoke weed and played Halo 2 online. It also brought me my first taste of RPG glory with Elder Scrolls , KOTOR and still my all time favorite Fable.

Several years later came the 360 and thats when my social life took a big hit. Just joking but only half heartily. Though it had its problems (I am on my third one, DAM IT !), I still believe that it changed everything it showed how games should look and play and with it brought my favorite games of all time. Which are Mass Effect 1 & 2 , GTA 4 , Red Dead , and Fable 2. Just the shear amount of quality of video games that are coming out now blow my mind and I feel truly blessed to be able to have hands and eyes so I can enjoy them.

I now have all the big three's gaming systems and no life.

But I wouldn't want it any other way. Gaming has truly saved me in dark times. When I had no friends and no one to go out with I would just make them in Sims. When I wanted to feel important I saved the world a thousand times over and when I want to just be myself and enjoy the people I love, I simply press the off button.

Or just pause.

Until next time,

I think I am growing up finally...

Then again maybe not.

It's been a few weeks maybe even longer since I posted but I have been busy writing two comics. Now they are being drawn, I have time to rant so here we go.

I was very proud of myself recently because I didn't take a drink of alcohol for a little over four weeks. This has got to be the longest I have went without drinking for so long since I was a loser in high school playing video games and smoking pot at home in my room while everybody was doing keg stands.

It wasn't as tough as I thought would be. Of course watching everyone get drunk and laugh at jokes that aren't as funny sober kind of sucked but I persevered through. The reason I quit drinking wasn't because I didn't think it was fun, don't get me wrong there is nothing more fun than a night out with the gang enjoying a nice rum and coke. I just can't stand the next day. I get very bad hangovers and it makes me lazy and depressed the next day. Obviously alcohol is a depressant so everyone should expect that but it seems to hit me way harder.

So my quest was off to go two months without a drink to see what it would be like to be thirteen again and try to enjoy weekends sober and I did. Then came this past friday night I decided to jump off the wagon with a box of wine and a night full of board games. It was a blast, played my favorite board game "Zombies!!!" but this morning was not fun. So today I pledge that I will be back on the wagon for another four weeks and maybe for good. I guess I could learn moderation. That may help with the extreme hangovers but I will try that in a month I suppose.

But also as I am growing up I am also still a kid at heart this was never more apparent than this weekend when for the last two weeks I have been planning to go back to Old Cowtown which is just my idea of heaven. I am a HUGE western buff so if this the only way I can relive that time I will be there. I really think I was born in the wrong century. I love the ideals of the Old West and if only Doc Brown was real and could get me back there.

My lovely girlfriend and I departed for Cowtown and we had a blast saw a gun fight, sipped on sarsaparilla and spent $80 at the gift shop. I am now the owner of a Billy the Kid cap gun and a nice cowboy hat. Now I won't go into details but I will let this picture sum up our trip.

Until next time,